As Yet Untitled
by Blue Driftwood Fire
Summary: Severus just wants a relaxing evening after watching the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, but when a visitor to his quarter changes the course of his evening, what will happen next?
1. Prologue

AN: This story contains some discussion of abuse (though nothing graphic) and it will have some (non-traditional) alpha/omega themes - it's gonna be a creature fic. Also there is some non-graphic mentioned in passing Mpreg in later chapters. Please consider this as your warning, and do not read if this in any way bothers you.  
This has not been beta read so please forgive any mistakes/ feel free to point out any glaring ones I may have missed.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognisable and am making no money from this work.

* * *

Severus Snape stalked through the dungeons intent on retreating to his quarters and nursing a snifter of whisky for the evening. The day had been a trying one for it had been allocated to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament; a tournament he knew was trouble the moment the headmaster suggested hosting it at Hogwarts. In only its first of three tasks, it had already seen one disastrous mishap after another. Mind you, the way these last few years had gone, that was becoming nothing new. This time, though, something bad was going to happen, Severus was sure of it.

It had been nothing more than "sheer dumb luck" – as his colleague, and friend, had once suggested – that Potter managed to survive facing off against that dragon. The flying skills that boy possessed were remarkable, Severus hadn't seen anything of its like in all his days. He would admit it to no one, but, the moment the horntail broke free of its restrains, he had been terrified he was about to witness the Potter boy's death and there would have been nothing he could have done about it – not with so many spectators watching.

Oh, how Severus had wanted to pull the boy from the arena and squirrel him away to safety. Had it been up to him, Harry Potter would never have had anything to do with the whole retched tournament, save to watch it as a spectator alongside his young friends. However, it was not up to Severus to save Harry from the life he had been thrust headlong into as a young child, no matter how much he longed to.

You see, Severus Snape had a secret he had told no one. By keeping his secret, he protected himself, yes, but, moreover he protected one he cared about far more, for you see, he _did_ care. He cared about the boy he had been charged to protect; charged to protect so long as he could do so without blowing his cover – and Severus rather felt that by swooping in and demanding Harry Potter not have to face a dragon, he would be giving away his hand in a war that his mentor was not so sure was yet over.

If it weren't for the fact that the magic in the mark that marred his forearm was still active, Severus Snape might have branded Albus Dumbledore an old fool years ago. If it weren't for the fact that that magic _didn't_ die all those years ago on that fateful Hallowe'en night, the night many celebrated the death of the Dark Lord Voldemort, Severus would have lived a very different kind of life.

As it was, the magic hadn't died, and Severus happened to also believe that the war was far from over, and so had lived the life he had, hiding in plain sight, teaching potions to the students of Hogwarts, and pretending not to care as he really did.

Some days Severus found it hard to keep the persona of the dungeon dragon he wore like a cloak shrouded around himself. Other days life was so mundane it wasn't hard to feign disinterest in everything around him. Today was not one of those days, which was why the evening found Snape stalking through the halls looking forward to a bit of solitude.

It seemed though that solitude was not to be had that night.


	2. Chapter 1

Severus breathed a sigh of relief as he reached his quarters, then tensed again almost as soon as he stepped over the threshold. There was someone in his rooms.

"What are you doing here, brat?" the professor asked, relaxing at the cloak he recognised thrown haphazardly at the stand, only for his breath to catch when he rounded the corner.

Draco Malfoy was sitting huddled on the floor with his head buried in his knees in the opposite corner of the room, not lounging on the sitee as expected.

"What happened?" he asked, resigning himself to having to deal with some kind of teenage angst before he could relax properly.

Draco just whimpered and seemed to withdraw even more into himself.

"Draco?" This behaviour was most unlike the proud boy he knew, and he was beginning to get a little concerned something serious had happened.

"I couldn't watch Uncle, I just couldn't," he mumbled into his knees.

"I'll ask again, Draco, what happened?"

Instead of answering, Draco merely asked, "He's okay?"

Severus sighed, he had no patience for dramatics or histrionics, and the boy knew it.

"Who?"

"Harry! He's okay, isn't he?" the boy cried.

Severus chose not to express his surprise at Draco's use of Harry's given name, having never heard either refer to the other by anything other than their Family name, and chose to instead answer the question in as direct a fashion as he could. "The boy is fine, Madame Pomfrey is looking after him."

"What!?" Draco cried, lifting his head for the first time.

"He has a nasty gash on his shoulder but is otherwise fine," Severus reiterated.

Draco twitched momentarily like he was about to get up but then thought better of it.

"What are you doing here, Draco?" Severus asked again. The boy was a mess, his usually pale skin was red and blotchy, his perfectly coiffed hair was sticking up in all directions like someone had repeatedly run their hands through it, his clothes were rumpled like he'd slept in them, and his eyes were bleary and bloodshot.

"I told you," he mumbled, "I couldn't watch."

"And here I thought watching Potter be eaten by a dragon would be right up your alley," Severus drawled.

Draco jumped to his feet; "Don't!" he cried, before turning away and adding in a pained whisper, "Please…"

Severus was perplexed, which didn't happen often. "What's going on here Draco?" he asked.

Still facing the wall, the blond responded in a petulant mutter, "I don't know what you mean."

"If I didn't know better I have guessed you left the tournament to hide in here crying about your lot in life, you certainly look like you've spent the last few hours bawling," Snape never was one for gentleness and Draco winced at the blunt statement.

"Uncle," Draco was debating just how much he should tell the man, when he spoke again.

"Someone dump you?" he asked sarcastically.

The young teenager crumpled to the floor whimpering in pain.

"Draco?" Severus looked at him in askance, before pulling him up and sitting him on the sofa and going to sit himself in his favourite armchair.

"Tell me," he commanded.

"My mate," Draco wailed.

"What of her?"

"Him," the young Slytherin automatically corrected.

"Ah," Severus commented, now fairly sure he had a good grasp on what the problem was, "And you're worried about your father's reaction?"

"No… Yes!" Draco paused, "He'll kill me."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

"He will though," he said with certainty.

"Draco, he's your father, I doubt he'll want to hurt you," the elder tried to reason, "I'm sure he loves you."

"Never stopped him before," was the muttered response.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, doesn't matter." Draco tried to wave the regrettable comment away.

"You will explain that later as I don't think it was as throw away as you mean it to be, but for now tell me; you know your mate is male, does this mean you have met him?"

"Yes," Draco murmured.

"Don't mutter," the professor chided without thinking, before adding, "When?"

"Three years ago," the response surprised his uncle enough that he struggled to hide it.

"When you were eleven?" It was rare but not completely unheard of for one to meet their mate at such a young age.

"I'm guessing this visit was prompted by your working this out?"

"I've known since we first met," Draco told him.

"So why the sudden crisis?"

"I couldn't watch," he said repeating his earlier statement.

"You said," Snape drawled, "Couldn't watch wh-" he trailed off and Draco sat watching as his uncle worked out his deepest secret.

"Potter," he breathed, "No!" The man stood to warm his hands anxiously by the fire; this the closest Severus Snape would get to outwardly showing what he was thinking.

"Harry Potter is your mate." he stated, not really all that surprised when he thought about it, what with the way the two boys were constantly circling each other.

Draco had never admitted it to anyone before and he found squeezing the word "yes," through the lump in his throat quite difficult.

"Oh Draco!" Severus sat next to the boy and pulled him into his arms, offering a rare moment of comfort.

"Does _he_ know?"

"Who, Father, or Potter?"

"Potter, or, well, either actually."

"No, neither know," Draco breathed then added, "And I'd like to keep it that way."

"But your mate," Severus immediately responded, "You need to tell him."

Still not sure to whom his uncle was referring, Draco responded, "My mate rejected me, and Father will kill me – or more accurately he will use me to get to Potter, and then kill us both."

Deciding to leave conversation until later about what Lucius Malfoy may, or may not, do with regards to his own son and the boy's mate, Severus chose to instead focus on the boy's first statement. "I'm quite certain Potter hasn't rejected you."

"The first time I met him was the day Mother had taken me to get my Hogwarts things. I was so excited to be going to Hogwarts, to be leaving the Manor, to get to see you more often," Draco started with a far off look in his eyes, like he was reliving the memory as he told his story, "But I was scared too; scared to be leaving Mother, scared to meet all these new people, scared I wouldn't make any friends, scared I wouldn't do well in class, scared I'd disappoint Father…" he trailed off.

"This tiny little runt of a boy walked into the shop while I was being fitted for robes, and I think I knew who he was right away. I was so nervous, I just started babbling, mostly all that stuff Father believes, I think, but he wouldn't respond to me, in fact he ran away first opportunity he got, and all I could think afterwards was 'I just met my mate and I don't even know his name!'. Then it kind of hit me _I just met my mate!_ "

"That doesn't mean he rejected you," Severus speculated, not surprised Harry didn't speak to him if he was sprouting his father's nonsense. Draco just looked at him.

"We didn't meet again until we were on the Express. I told him who I was and Weasley just laughed at me, _Weasley_ laughed at _me_!" Draco seemed momentarily baffled before he resumed his story.

"I held out my hand to him and he wouldn't take it, actually he told me to get lost," He turned to Severus with tears shimmering in his eyes. "Tell me again how my mate hasn't rejected me," he said.

"You're telling me your mate rejected you," Severus asked, to which Draco nodded miserably, "Yet you are still able to sit here and tell me the tale years later."

"I know it should have killed me and believe me it felt like it was going to, still does sometimes," he responded, wrapping his arms around himself like they could protect him from the pain coursing through his body, through his very blood. "But the truth is: if I die, he dies."

Severus hummed at that having temporarily forgotten that his brat isn't an alpha, no matter how much he sometimes acts like one.

"He rejects me, and it kills him," he wailed, "I wasn't about to do that to him, I couldn't…" Draco trailed off again.

"I just couldn't" he muttered.

"So, you survived being rejected by your alpha to save his life," Severus surmised, wearily impressed despite himself.

"Something like that."

"That still doesn't explain why you don't want him to know," he prompted.

"He'd feel trapped," Draco declared, "He'll feel like he has no choice but to stay with me and I want him to have all the choices in the world."

Severus found he couldn't dispute that

"What's the point of being a Malfoy if I can't give my mate everything he's ever wanted?"

"Speaking of Malfoy's," Severus started, "That quip about your father?" He deliberately left his question open ended to see how the boy would respond.

"What about it?" he responded somewhat morosely.

"You seemed quite certain he would kill you."

"Hmm," was all the reaction he got.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Not really."

"Draco," Severus warned. The older Slytherin knew the boy's father had never treated his son, or his wife for that matter, favourably and he was worried the problem was much worse than he feared.

"He doesn't want me around other than for the continuance of his name," Draco eventually relented, unable to look his uncle in the eye.

"So why the certainty?" Severus paused, "Draco, has he ever done anything to you?"

Draco squirmed before he got up and started to pace.

"Draco?"

The blond sighed before finally admitting, "He beats me with his cane."

Severus shot to his feet at that halted admission, "He what!?" he roared, though he managed to calm himself when he saw the boy shrink back towards the wall. He sighed; "I'm sorry, come over here," and took the boy into his arms for the second time that day.

"I will personally make sure he never touches you again, my little brat," he vowed with vengeance on his mind.


	3. Chapter 2

AN: Please go to the end of the chapter for a spoiler containing warning.

* * *

"My brat," Severus hummed soothingly while running his hands through the soft blond hair. "You have to keep me informed if I'm to have any hope of keeping you safe."

Draco just whimpered and stopped fighting his tears. He felt safe here with these arms wrapped around him. He felt like the world outside could go to hell and as long as his Uncle stayed just where he was, murmuring soothing nothings into his ear then everything would be just fine.

"Draco, you need your Alpha, he should be here,"

And just like that the soothing effect was shattered. "I can't tell him Uncle Sev."

Choosing to ignore the nickname Draco had bestowed upon him as a child, and never thereafter forgotten, Severus instead voiced his main concern; "Draco no matter how much we try, it's just not possible for us to live without our alphas,"

"You're still here," he muttered.

"Hmm" Severus acknowledged, wondering how much he should tell the boy in his arms, for it had come time to tell him the truth, or at least some of it.

"However, my mate has neither rejected me nor is he simply ignorant of my situation,"

Draco, hurting from the undeniable truth of that statement, shot back with; "Yes but he is dead."

Severus growled, and immediately removed Draco from his hold. "Never say something like that simply to cause another pain."

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for," Draco apologised meekly.

"Indeed."

Severus once again sat Draco on the couch, before sitting next to him but no longer holding the boy after that comment. Draco felt the lose of the comforting embrace keenly and went to wrap his own arms around himself before vividly remembering the last beating he had received for "not holding himself like a Malfoy". Severus noticed but chose not to say anything, silently continuing his planning on how he was going to seek vengeance on Draco's behalf from that inadequate despicable father of his.

"You are aware that there is one way we can survive the loss of a mate, aren't you?" Severus began.

"If there is a child needing cared for, then the remaining mate is able to survive until said child has a mate of their own to look after them."

"Indeed."

"Wait!" Draco exclaimed, "Are you telling me what I think you're telling me?"

"And what exactly do you think I may be telling you?"

"You have a child, that's how you've survived mateless for so long after he was murdered!"

"Must you be so ruthlessly blunt, child!" Severus grunted, feeling pain explode through him at the boy's careless words.

Instead of the expected apology, Draco simply muttered, "Must have learnt it from you."

"Be that as it may, you should have more care how you speak!"

"Sorry Uncle," Draco grumbled.

Realising that was as good as he was going to get Severus chose to continue with his story.

"You may be bunt but you were also right."

Draco's eyes widened to the size of saucers, "You have a child?"

"A son," Severus confirmed and was about to continue, but was interrupted.

"How come I'm only just learning of this now!?" Draco demanded.

"I apologise for keeping your cousin-of-sorts away from you, however it was done for everybody's safety, not least of all his."

The pain of loosing his mate and having been forced to give his son up to be raised by virtual strangers momentarily overwhelmed the professor and he didn't come back to himself until Draco gently took his hand in his own and softly started to sooth the skin on the back of it.

Taking a deep breath, Severus continued, "I miss him every day and it is one of my deepest regrets that the two if you didn't get to grow up together."

"What was his name?"

"Harry Leo Black."

"…Harry…?"

"Yes. We chose Leo for his Opa's family tradition of naming children after constellations, even though he was in fact adopted," Severus paused to let that sink in.

"Uncle Reggie was adopted?"

"Walburga and Orion adopted him after it became clear that she could have no more children of her own, though it was all kept hidden and secret. Even then they only took him in because he was of Black blood, being born of Orion's father's cousin's daughter out of wedlock to Morfin Gaunt. How the old tramp could still father children at that age is a mystery we'll never solve."

Severus smirked as Draco shuddered subtly at that.

"But how did they trick the tapestry?" Draco asked, referring to the tapestry of the Black Family tree that hung in Walburga's parlour

"They didn't," Severus explained, "Callidora's daughter was burned off for having a child out of wedlock, so her descendants don't appear and once Walburga and Orion adopted Regulus the tapestry recognised him as their child. Though it would seem not fully as his children did not appear to be listed when last he saw it."

"Children, as in plural?" Draco asked having noticed his uncle's slip up right away, causing Severus to wince, for he had not meant to reveal that detail.

"Yes," he relented "We also had a daughter; Hermione Lyra Black."

Draco merely raised an eyebrow at that.

"Yes, you caught me; my dislike of your classmate has more to do with her reminding me of my late daughter than any fault on her part."

"She _is_ an insufferable know-it-all."

"Hmm," Severus had no choice but to let that slide for he had once said similar himself.

"What was she like?" Draco asked, having noticed the past tense his uncle used before then clarifying, "Your daughter?"

"Very much like her Opa and taken far too young to know much more," he trailed off.

Rather more timidly than usual, Draco ventured to ask, "What happened?"

"You were told that your uncle was murdered but there is more to the story," Severus started, bracing himself for what was going to be a difficult story to tell. "You also know that we both worked under the servitude of the Dark Lord, yes?"

Draco nodded.

"Well that's how it started. Your father had tried to recruit us both while we were all still at school together, and initially we refused, but then my mother died, and my father would no longer see me living in his house, such that it was. Orion agreed to us living in one of the smaller houses on the Black Estate of St Kilda, provided we join the Dark Lord. You must understand the island we were to live on is one that is a long ways off the coast of Scotland and that muggles believe to have been abandoned since the 1930's. We were young and naïve enough to believe that we could be initiated, then return to live peacefully on Hirta.

"At the time the Dark Lord was gathering all manner of people with all kinds of vast and varied skills and we believed we weren't skilled enough at any one thing to attract his attention, and we hoped to remain unnoticed, unneeded."

Here Draco scoffed but refrained from interrupting.

"Yes well, as I said we were young and very naïve; fresh out of Hogwarts, with no grander plans than being in love and staying together no matter what," Severus smiled wistfully.

"Of course, my potions quickly caught _his_ attention and I became his chief brewer, much to the chagrin of his more experienced brewers. Your Uncle, he was valued for his genius and quick thinking that saved many, and his talent with a wand that injured just as many as it saved. He was sent on many raids and he hated every one of them. He was not a violent natured man.

"It was that same genius and the insatiable curiosity that Regulus never could let of that got him killed. He discovered something I think. I still don't really know what happened, I've tried to piece it together but all I know is when we found out I was pregnant, he became very serious, declared _'I'm getting us out of the hell out of dodge'_ before telling me to go home then disappearing never to be seen or heard from again."

Draco cuddled into his side and Severus released a shaky breath before continuing; "The first I knew something had gone terribly wrong was when Orion showed up all Lord Black the following morning shouting at me and blaming me for getting his son killed. He then proceeded to kick me out of the house without a care as to where I would go. He barely even allowed me time to grab a bag of clothes and such."

Severus now had undisguisable tears silently running down his face as he relived years of pain.

"It didn't really sink in until I was standing in Hogsmead with nowhere to go."

Draco frowned and asked, "What did you do?"

"I stayed in the Hog's Head – don't look at me like that, brat, it was cheap – until I ran out of money as I had no real way of making any, as my pregnancy meant he could no longer brew potions."

"I always forget you're an omega too," Draco commented at the reminder.

"Yes well, just because I don't go around flaunting it all the time."

"What happened next?"

"I ended up squatting wherever I could, thankful of the small way magic went to improve my surroundings and hide me from those I hoped would not find me."

Draco pulled another face at that.

"We don't all have generations of old money to rely on when times are tough, Draco." he reminded the boy.

"What about the Princes?" he asked rather than respond to that.

"I hadn't reconciled with them at that point. I didn't until several years later," Severs, determined to continue his tale without further interruptions, silenced the boy with one of his _looks_.

"When I was heavy with child, I went to visit an old friend whom I had drifted away from a few years prior. She accused me of lying to her to gain sympathy as she was unaware that wizards could carry children. Thankfully her husband was a little more familiar with our ways and, though it was the last place I expected to find any, offered me help. I lived with them until just after the birth of my twins where upon Dumbledore arrived demanding I repay the favour I owed and that's how I ended up working here two months later."

"What happened to the twins," Draco was almost scared to asked, as his uncle was now trembling with the force of his repressed emotions.

"Harry remained with my friends for his protection…"

"And Hermione?" Draco whispered.

"She had some kind of incurable muggle syndrome that caused her to quite suddenly and unexpectedly die in her crib…" Severus sobbed.

Draco felt awful as he watched his normally stoic Uncle sob over his daughter's death. He had no idea how the man could be so strong when he had lost so much. Draco was sure such a lose would kill him, if he were in his Uncle's place.

"Do you know where Harry is now?" Draco risked asking.

"Here at Hogwarts," Severus responded without thinking and only realised his mistake when he heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Surely you don't mean Harry Potter?"

Severus could no more deny Harry Potter to be his son than Draco could deny him to be his mate earlier.

* * *

AN: This chapter contains briefly mentioned sudden infant death syndrom, so please be aware of this.

I have rough idea where this is going but I'm not entirely sure yet so if you have any suggestions be sure to let me know!


End file.
